The Congress on Monday said the Narendra Modi government was revealing its “true fascist self” by targeting young activists as senior leaders including Rahul Gandhi described the action as another example of cowardice.
Quoting the famous couplet by Faiz Ahmed Faiz — “Bol ke lab azad hai tere, Bol ke sach zinda hai ab tak (Speak, that your lips are free, Speak, for truth is still alive)” — Rahul tweeted: “They are frightened, not the country. India won’t be silenced.”
Priyanka Gandhi too expressed similar sentiments, arguing that those possessing guns were scared of an unarmed girl.
While Delhi police on Saturday arrested 21-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi from Bangalore, arrest warrants were issued against lawyer Nikita Jacob of Mumbai.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said at a news conference: “If the government thinks that a 21-year-old Disha and a 22-year-old Nikita can damage the strong foundations of the Indian democracy, they don’t know what they are talking about. They are only revealing their true fascist self.”
“Democracy is damaged by persons who celebrate the Pulwama tragedy (referring to Arnab Goswami who said in a purported WhatsApp chat — ‘with this we won like crazy’), democracy is damaged by those who get bail and role in J&K as DSP (referring to police officer Devinder Singh who was arrested for links with terrorists), democracy is damaged by those who divide Hindu-Muslim. Questioning and dissent strengthen democracy. But for this government, dissent is anti-national,” she said.
Shrinate added: “That the government stooped so low as to arrest young activists shows two things: One, the government is coward; two, they fear free speech. They are extremely scared of women. No matter what they do… they can close down (Twitter) handles, they can pressurise (social media) platforms, they can arrest persons arbitrarily. The reality is the more they do this, more voices of dissent will rise.”
Senior party leader and top lawyer Kapil Sibal said: “Disha Ravi is a climate activist. Is the state so weak that a tweet threatens its security? Is the state so paranoid that a
22-year-old is a national security threat? Is the state so intolerant that it cannot tolerate youth standing with farmers? Is this the change Modiji
wanted?”
Posting a report from The Daily Telegraph, which said Disha’s arrest is the latest escalation in India’s crackdown on free expression and political dissent as it seeks to stifle the farmers’ mass protests, party MP Shashi Tharoor wondered: “Doesn’t the Government of India care about the damage it is doing to its own global image?”
